Jim Mashek

FRESHMAN QB ANTHONY DAVIS GIVES BGHS A SECOND-HALF LIFT; PURPLES TURN FOCUS TO NEXT WEEK’s ROAD TRIP TO SCOTT COUNTY

Bowling Green’s football team ran into a buzzsaw from Louisville on Friday night.

Kevin Wallace’s powerful St. Xavier squad rolled into town and rolled out with a resounding 27-10 victory over the defending KHSAA Class 5A state champions.

Eighth-year BGHS head coach Mark Spader, Wallace’s successor with the Purples, has been intent on turning the page on last year’s state championship, and he didn’t mince words in the aftermath of the defeat.

“We’ve gotta keep moving forward,” Spader said. “We might have been a little wide-eyed in the first half … We keep showing fight, and I appreciate that …”

Bowling Green dropped to 0-2 for the first time in more than 25 years. Freshman quarterback Anthony Davis, a 6-foot-4 left-hander, stepped into the fray and brought the Purples to within a touchdown during a promising third quarter, but St. Xavier (2-0) took control on a fourth-quarter safety and never looked back.

“They found a playmaker,” Wallace said.

Spader and Wallace both believe in playing a demanding schedule, and the Class 6A Tigers had to overcome some misfortune of their own after halftime. Bowling Green will return to the practice field for Labor Day with an eye cast toward its next challenge, a three-hour road trip to tangle with a tough Scott County squad on Friday night.

The Purples were hit with more misfortune at wide receiver, six days after all-state wideout Trevy Barber and fellow receiver Ethan Kirkwood were sidelined in last week’s 23-17 loss to Owensboro Catholic. Senior BGHS wideout Hudson Nottmeier was wearing a sling over his shoulder pads in the second half of Friday’s contest, after coming up with some difficult grabs with Davis calling the plays under center.

“We played a really good team … We’re still trying to find our way on offense,” Spader said.

The Purples managed just three first downs in the first half. St. X dominated the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball, while controlling the clock and bolting to a 17-0 lead at the break. Bowling Green quickly regrouped, after the half, behind Anthony Douglas, the long, lean QB who provides an extra dimension with his speed and ability to break the pocket.

“We made some personnel moves at halftime,” Spader said. “We’ve got some decisions to make going into next week against Scott County.”

St. X took the opening kickoff and put together a nine-play, 55-yard touchdown drive to grab a 7-0 lead. Senior QB Mason Trimble converted one third-down play with a 7-yard keeper, and four plays later, he found the end zone from nine yards out on a quarterback draw. Matthew Burt added the extra point for the Tigers, who were looking to settle a score after last year’s 26-9 loss to the Purples in Bowling Green.

Bowling Green had poor field position on its first possession, after a miscue in the kicking game, and St. X took over at the Purples’ 42-yard line late in the first quarter. Trimble converted one fourth-down play with an 11-yard completion to St. X teammate Lucas Shelton, but senior BGHS linebacker Montez Trussell and the Purples defense tightened in the red zone.

The Tigers’ Logan Seales delivered a 33-yard field goal with 67 seconds left in the first quarter, and St. Xavier extended its lead to 10-0.

Trimble got the Tigers back in the end zone in the final two minutes of the first half, with University of Louisville commit Marlon Harbin II slamming across the goal line from 1 yard out. Burt added the PAT and the Purples trailed 17-0 at the break.

“Our offensive line is kind of a patchwork group, to be honest with you,” St. X coach Kevin Wallace said. “Two of our guys have played mostly defense, since they’ve been here, but I thought we did really well up front.”

Freshman BGHS quarterback Anthony Davis took the Purples 62 yards in 10 plays for their first points of the game, Daniels’ 1-yard bootleg to the right side of the St. X defense with 7:01 left in the third quarter. Senior placekicker Daniel Gonzales drilled the PAT and Bowling Green trailed 17-7.

Bowling Green made it a one-score game in the final few minutes of the third quarter.

The Purples’ Hudson Nottmeier made a tough grab over the middle for a 15-yard reception, before teammate Nick Graham did the same for a 12-yard gain. Bowling Green got into the red zone but had to settle for Gonzales’ 29-yard field goal, trimming the St. X lead to 17-10.

The game’s turning point took place in the opening moments of the fourth quarter.

Bowling Green’s Arlando Davis came up with an interception in the end zone to deny the Tigers, but St. Xavier’s Korey Tutt Jr. broke through the protection and tackled BGHS quarterback Anthony Davis for a critical safety to extend the St. X lead to 19-10.

St. X fielded the free kick and needed six plays to drive 44 yards for the final points of the night.

“The shallow kick just killed us there,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said. “(St. X) flipped the field. We kind of had them backed up to start the second half, that changed their play calling but now they’re on the plus-49. We had some momentum, then we give up the safety, we had the fumble down there late.

“We were right there, and then we do those fatal things.”

The Tigers’ Marlon Harbin scored his second touchdown of the night, on a 5-yard run, before St. X added a two-point conversion on Trimble’s quick slant to teammate Caden Barker.

St. X coach Kevin Wallace guided Bowling Green to FIVE state championships, as well as three runner-up finishes, in 22 years with the Purples. He exchanged warm greetings with Spader and the BGHS coaching staff after the game, adding that his impending retirement as the St. X coach is firm.

Wallace has compiled an impressive 64-24 record in seven-plus seasons at St. X, which includes the KHSAA Class 6A state championship the Tigers won in 2021.

“It’s not the memories of the field, it’s the memories of the people,” Wallace said when it was over. “The success that I have enjoyed has come on the backs of great players and great assistant coaches, great administrators and great community support. And it’s not better anywhere than it is at Bowling Green.”

St. X plays host to Louisville’s Male High School next week, while the Purples are on the road to tangle with Scott County (2-0).